The "Soul Brothers" Handshake

     Sometimes, the smallest things can throw the best laid plans into a tailspin.  It is surprising how people who are accustomed to handling all sorts of important, world changing, substantive matters, can go into a tizzy over a very small, insignificant thing.  Such was the case in the early September of 1980 when Ambassador Mansfield's Office in Embassy Tokyo received a call from the Foreign Ministry, from Foreign Minister Ito's Office.
     According to Ito's assistant, the Foreign Minister had injured his right index finger playing golf!  The finger was dislocated and the Foreign Minister could not bend it or apply any pressure on it.  In a few days there was going to be a treaty signing ceremony at the Foreign Ministry.  Ambassador Mansfield and Foreign Minister Ito were to sign the U.S. /Japan Bilateral Security Agreement.  It was a renewal of the agreement which had been drafted and agreed upon months earlier.  The ceremony, of course, would conclude with the Ambassador and Foreign Minister Ito shaking hands.  The handshaking was an important gesture to signify that the two countries were in agreement, and it provided the photo ops for all the major press representatives at the ceremony.
     Ito's assistant was very concerned, how were the two going to shake hands?  The Foreign Minister could not shake hands in a conventional manner, since that would apply pressure on the index finger.  Did the American Embassy have any suggestions?
     At the time I was working in the Political/Military Affairs and was scheduled to accompany Ambassador Mansfield, along with the Political Counselor, to the treaty signing ceremony.  Everyone involved were stumped briefly.  Then one of my friends in the Political Section jokingly suggested that the Ambassador and the Foreign Minister shake hands like "soul brothers."
     Back in the day, it may be hard to believe for the younger generation today, but people shook hands in a conventional manner when they greeted or parted.  "Fist bumping" and "high fiving" did not exist!  The only ones who used to "high five" were professional athletes, namely NBA players.  Even the NFL players did not "high five" yet.  "Fist bumping" along with the more unconventional handshakes, did not exist at all in the general society. It was practiced in prisons among cons and among some of the younger blacks in the inner cities.  The clasping of hands like arm wrestlers was referred to as the "soul brothers" handshake because it was practiced in the black community.  This form of handshaking had been practiced for a number of years in some of the African societies and it migrated to the American shores to the black community.  In the American society in general, it was not practiced, although some of the more "hip" and younger urban non-black Americans, particularly musicians and others in entertainment, started to use this form of handshake.
     When the word reached Ambassador Mansfield that Foreign Minister Ito had an injured right index finger and couldn't shake hands in a conventional manner, he became thoughtful and puffed on his pipe.  Taking my friend's suggestion (although it was made in jest), I said to Ambassador Mansfield that perhaps he and the Foreign Minister could shake hands in an unconventional manner, like "soul brothers."  Ambassador Mansfield looked puzzled at the suggestion, so I explained that it was clasping of hands like in arm wrestling.  The Ambassador brightened up at my explanation and said, after puffing a few more times on his pipe, "So it is, and so it will be.  We will shake hands like "soul brothers."
     I called the Foreign Minister's assistant and told him about the solution to the problem.  At first he didn't understand what I meant by "soul brother" or "soru burada" handshake.  I asked him if he had seen any of the Shaft movies which were popular in Japan, mainly because of its theme song!  He said he had.  I then told him if he ever noticed how the black people shook hands, and at that point my man understood and chuckled and said, yes, he knew, and he would pass it on to the Foreign Minister.
     On September 16, 1980, Ambassador Mansfield, accompanied by the Political Counselor Robert Immerman and the Political/Military Affairs Officer (me), went over to the Gaimusho (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and met with Foreign Minister Ito and his contingent.  After the usual pleasantries, the treaty was signed and the handshaking took place with all the flashes from press cameras.  The handshaking was done in the "soul brothers" manner as can be seen in the photo that I posted on my FB wall.  It looks almost as if Ito is pointing a finger at Mansfield!  Some of the Japanese press was a bit confused by the handshake while others caught on immediately!  Everything went off without a hitch!

Emperors I Have Met...sort of!

     Well, actually I only met one, Emperor Hirohito of Japan.  At the same time I did meet Crown Prince Akihito, who is now the Emperor of Japan, but back then, he was the Crown Prince, not the Emperor that he is today.  But, I can fudge a bit and say I met two Emperors of Japan.
      In the Spring of 1980, the American Embassy, as well as other embassies in Tokyo, received an invitation from the Japanese Foreign Ministry (Gaimusho) to attend the annual Emperor's Cherry Blossom Viewing.  Those embassy employees who were on the "blue list" (the diplomatic list) were invited and each embassy was to submit a list of names of proposed attendees.  The viewing was to take place that year at Akasaka Palace Grounds.  The festivities would involve not only viewing of the spectacular cherry blossom display, but sumptuous delicacies and refreshments served on the grounds.  The highlight of the of this occasion was the formal reception line and the greeting and meeting of the Emperor and the Empress, the Crown Prince and Princess, and the rest of the Imperial Household of Japan.
     This was indeed an unusual and an exciting opportunity for those fortunate enough to be invited, not only to participate in a spectacular gala, but actually meet the Emperor and Empress of Japan.  Both Jo and I had been in Japan before I was assigned to the embassy.  In fact, I had lived in Japan as a kid for several years.  But neither one of us had an opportunity to meet the Emperor and the Empress before, so we were pretty excited.
     The American Embassy contingent was taken to the Akasaka Palace Grounds in shuttle vans and went through the rigid security checks before the Palace Gate.  We were on the grounds only for a short period, meeting other embassy guests when an announcement was made that we were to head for a designated area where the Imperial Reception Line was formed.  Japanese being sticklers for "proper" organization, we were told to line up in the order that we were instructed.  Pretty soon the line started to move, with each embassy grouped together.  As we neared the Emperor and the Empress, we could see that the Imperial Household was quite large.  Next to the Emperor and the Empress stood the Crown Prince and the Princess, followed by other Princes and Princesses, Dukes and Duchesses.  As Jo and I came up to face Emperor Hirohito, I noticed that there was a member of the Imperial Staff standing slightly to the rear and off to the side of Emperor Hirohito.  The man held a list and he read off our names and positions in the embassy!
     I was struck by the fact that Emperor Hirohito was a very small, slight man.  He must have stood all of about 5 feet 2 or 3 inches at most!  I was surprised that he spoke English as he said "I am very pleased to meet you," and shook my hand.  He then turned his attention to Jo and shook her hand and said something similar.  Next we shook the hand of the Empress, who only smiled and did not say anything in English.  The Crown Prince Akihito, the current Emperor, who stood next to his mother the Empress, was even shorter than his father, the Emperor.  Crown Prince Akihito, now Emperor Akihito, must be around 5 feet 1 or 2 inches tall, about an inch less than his father.  The Crown Prince also greeted in English as he shook hands, as did the Princess.  All of the Royal family apparently spoke some English, at least enough to say proper greetings.
     It was certainly interesting and exciting to meet and shake the hand of the Emperor of Japan and his family.  After the reception line, everyone not only viewed the spectacular cherry blossoms that were in full bloom, but enjoyed the wonderful food and refreshments.  The best sake, made especially for the occasion was served out of huge wooden casks and guests could take the special wooden cups as mementos after taking a drink.  It was truly a wonderful and spectacular event, and meeting the Emperor was the highlight.
     The Emperor's Cherry Blossom Viewing is an annual event, but not all years the Emperor appears to greet the guests.  The following year, Spring of 1981, the Emperor's Cherry Blossom Viewing was held at Meiji Park, but the Emperor and his family did not hold a reception line.  So, Jo and I were fortunate to have gotten an invitation to a cherry blossom viewing when the Emperor did appear to greet guests.
     Emperor Hirohito and Crown Prince Akihito were the only true Royalty that I had chance to meet in my life.  Later, when I was in Cairo, I met a number of diplomats from the Arabian Peninsula who had royal titles.  But, as someone once said, every desert nomad in the Arabian Peninsula who has more than one wife and a pair of goats is called a "Prince," and Muslims are legally allowed three wives!  It may be an exaggeration, but you get the picture.  I did not feel like I was meeting true Royalty when I met those diplomats, but meeting Emperor Hirohito and Crown Prince Akihito, I did feel as if I was meeting someone special!
    

U.S. Presidents I Have Met.....by Chance! Part 3

     JFK gave me the impression that he was a dynamic, young, take charge type of a president, and Jimmy Carter seemed too plain and folksy.  George H.W. Bush presented a very different picture.  He may not have had the presence like JFK, but neither did he appear to be just a "good old boy" like Jimmy Carter.  George Bush 41 (he was our 41st President)  had the unmistakable bearing of a statesman.  He was not stuffy or formal, on the contrary, he was plain!  Yet, there was definitely an aura of importance about him.  He just seemed very "presidential," although at the time I met him he was the Vice President, not the President.
     In August of 1984 I had been in Guayaquil, Ecuador with the U.S. Consulate General for about nine months.  That year, Ecuador elected a new president, Leon Febres-Cordero, a good friend of the U.S., and a personal friend of the U.S. Vice President George Bush.  In August the inauguration ceremony took place in Quito, Ecuador's capital, and various dignitaries were invited to attend, among them, George Bush.
     Ecuador, as lovely as it is, is basically a backwater country where few if any VIPs ever visit our diplomatic posts.  Having served in Tokyo and Athens prior to Guayaquil, it was refreshing to be at a place where we were not constantly besieged with VIPs, CODELs (Congressional Delegations) and such and we could concentrate on doing our jobs, rather than babysitting and playing tour guides.  Hardly anyone ever came to the Embassy in Quito, so Guayaquil, a constituent post, almost never got VIP visitors.
     As the inauguration ceremony unfolded on television, we watched it with some amusement.  It seems that, smaller the country, the greater the pomp and formality in their ceremonies.  You would have thought it was the crowning of the Emperor of the Roman Empire or something, not just an inauguration of the president of Ecuador!  We were also relieved that we didn't have to worry about any VIP visits!  But we were wrong!  No sooner the TV was turned off when we received a call that Air Force Two with the Vice President of the United States would be stopping in Guayaquil in a few hours for refueling!
     Well, we hardly ever had anyone of high rank visiting Guayaquil.  The last "important" figure to appear in Guayaquil was CIA's Director of Latin American Affairs.  He came on an unofficial visit to meet with one of his old friends, a former Ecuadorian politician.  But that was it, mostly we had visitors from the State Department who were of Brigadier or Major General level in civilian rank.  So, a visit from a Vice President was not only totally unexpected, but something that we were completely unaccustomed to having at post.  At the time, the Consul General was absent from post, so I was temporarily the acting principal officer.  So, Del Junker, the Admin Officer and I made the best arrangements that we could, contacted the Ecuadorian officials and had the VIP room at the airport reserved and prepared.
     A small three person delegation from Guayaquil's Consulate General rushed out to the airport, myself, Del Junker, and his assistant the General Services Officer.  It was a hot, humid and windy evening when the Air Force Two landed and taxied close to the terminal and the VIP room.  We walked over to the planeside and I met George Bush 41, welcoming him to Guayaquil.  Bush appeared genuinely surprised that we came out to meet him!  He apologized for causing inconvenience for us!  His apology took me completely by surprise, so much so that for a second I didn't know how to respond.  I ended up by saying something to the effect that "it was not a problem," or something equally inane as I shook his hand!  The photograph that I posted on FB was taken at the moment when I was responding to his apology!  If I look somewhat flustered in the photo, you know why!
     We, together with Secret Service and other members of Bush's staff walked over to the VIP room to wait while Air Force Two was being refueled.  Inside, George Bush 41 once more apologized for disrupting our normal routines.  He pointed out that he had been a head of mission and knew full well what a pain it was to have VIPs pop in.  Bush was our first head of mission to China after we normalized relations with PRC, so he indeed knew very well how disrupting the visitors can be to a post!
     It was interesting that all his staff members, especially the Secret Service, absolutely loved him.  The head of his Secret Service detail told me that Bush 41 was the nicest person he knew, always concerned about the welfare of those who worked for him, always trying not to impose on his staff!  Quite a difference from what I heard of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's behavior with their staff!
     By the way, Air Force Two is the very same plane that is called Air Force One when the President is flying in it.  When the Vice President uses the plane, it becomes Air Force Two.  When the Secretary of State or Defense use the plane, it drops the "Air Force" moniker all together. That's what I was told then, it may be different now.
     Four years after our meeting in Guayaquil, George H.W. Bush was elected the 41st President of the United States.  I was in Paraguay at the time, but I was very happy to see him reach the Presidency.  Bush 41 struck me as being a very decent man.  I know he was surrounded by controversy in some cases, but like all presidents, he did not know everything that was going on during his presidency. The American public seems to think that because the president is in charge, he should know everything that is going on.  That is impossible, especially given the size of our government!
     As I said earlier, he had an aura of a statesman about him.  It gave you confidence, made you think that he would always try to do the right thing.  Indeed he did try to do the right thing during his presidency.  It was partly because of his refusal to get involved in mud slinging during his reelection campaign that he did not get reelected.  Perhaps he would not have won anyway, but it certainly would have increased his chances.  But he refused to stoop to that level. That was how he was and how he was described by everyone who knew him.

U.S. Presidents I Have Met....by Chance! Part 2

     Although my meeting or encounter with JFK was very brief, about 30 seconds, I was very much impressed with him.  Of course, he was the very first true VIP that I had ever met in my young life at that time.  Still, he struck me as being a very confident person, extremely sharp, and with a very domineering and commanding presence about him.  He was, well... for lack of better words, very "presidential."  There was no doubt as to who was in charge!  Jackie struck me as being not only very beautiful, but very much a "First Lady."  She too had great presence about her. The next President and the First Lady that I met gave a totally different impression.
     In May of 1979 I arrived at our Embassy in Tokyo as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO).  Shortly after my arrival, that summer, President Jimmy Carter, First Lady Rosalynn, and their youngest child Amy arrived in Tokyo.
     Most people can't imagine what a strain on resources it is for an embassy to have to host a visiting VIP.  At posts such as Tokyo, a very popular place for "boondoggles" by congressmen and other VIPs, there is a constant stream of visitors.  It is a tremendous expense on the taxpayers dollar!  Instead of doing normal work, the embassy staff has to drop everything and "babysit" and cater to the wishes of the visiting VIP or VIPs.  You can well imagine what a presidential visit would do!  Being at some backwater post, you don't have to face such nonsense, but at popular places like Tokyo, Paris, London, Rome, Hong Kong, Athens, Cairo, etc., there is a constant stream of visitors!
     Upon their arrival, Jimmy Carter announced that he and Rosalynn always wanted to see a traditional Japanese Kabuki play.  But, and it was big "but," they didn't want to sit through a normal 3 or 4 hour performance.  They wanted the embassy to arrange with the Japanese National Kabuki Theater to have a show that would last may be a half an hour!  That's like asking the Shakespearean Theater to put on Hamlet that would last 15 minutes!  Amy, they said, was not interested in seeing a Kabuki play but would like to visit various stores that sold dolls!  However, as it turned out, Amy did attend the Kabuki performance.  I don't mind telling you that there was an awful lot of scrambling around, meeting with Japanese from the Kabuki Theater and so on.
     Much to their credit, the Japanese said not to worry, that they would put on a show that would last about half an hour.  They apologized and said that they would not be able to present the full scope of Kabuki art, just a tiny bit, but they would do their best.  A good friend, Phyllis Anderson, was the  FSO assigned to be with Amy 24/7, escorting her to doll shops, etc.  Of course, they would also be accompanied by security, in this case a Diplomatic Security Officer from the embassy.
     For some reason, I was selected to be the "announcer" at the Kabuki Theater.  I was to make announcements about proper protocol for everyone who was there, before the arrival of Jimmy and Rosalynn.  I was to tell the audience when to rise from their seats, and when to sit, etc.  It is a bit of a puzzle to me as to why I was chosen for that role.  It was somewhat reminiscent of my time in the army at Gabriel Demonstration Area  some 16 years earlier!  At least I didn't have to make the announcements in Mongolian!
     After everything and everyone was in place, I made my initial announcements.  Shortly, Jimmy and Rosalynn arrived.  Jimmy surprised the Japanese, who tend to be on the formal side, by showing up in a blue blazer, khaki trousers, and brown loafers!  I think he started a fashion trend in wearing brown shoes with a blue blazer!  To the Japanese, Kabuki is somewhat like Opera in the West and men usually attend the shows in formal kimono or suits.  I think it surprised the Japanese that Jimmy, the President of the United States, was so informal.  At any rate, the abbreviated and chopped classic show was put on and the Carters seem to enjoy it.  I made my final announcements for the crowd to wait before leaving their seats.  Then all of the embassy detail scrambled out to form a protective barrier for Jimmy and Rosalynn to pass through on their way out of the theater.
     Apparently Jimmy was told that the barrier would be formed by embassy personnel, for as he left the theater, he stopped and shook hands with as many of us as he could.  He shook my hand and asked me where I was from.  He had that famous, perpetual grin showing his teeth, the "toothpaste smile."  I said I was from California, and he just said, "good, good."  I don't think he even heard me.
     The Carters stayed in Tokyo for several days and kept the embassy personnel hopping.  Jimmy's staff, the infamous "Georgia Mafia," was the most demanding, obnoxious, and arrogant group I had ever run across in my time in the Foreign Service!  Rosalynn was very demanding, that's all I'll say about her.  Amy, as it turned out, according to my friend Phyllis, was really a sweet, normal girl! Jimmy was, well...Jimmy.
     Before their departure, Jimmy met with some of the embassy staff in the embassy auditorium.  He gave a brief standard politician's speech and told us that we were all doing a great job, so on and so forth.  Then as he left the auditorium he shook hands with those closest to the aisle.  I happened to be by the aisle so he shook my hand again, and asked me again where I was from!  I had heard before that Jimmy Carter had a photographic memory, or something like that.  One article claimed that he never forgot a name or a face.  Well, obviously, my name or face was not worth remembering!
     I remember my thoughts after that.  I thought "God help the United States of America, because this guy is going to get us into trouble!"  I am certainly no prophet, nor have any special insight into things, but Jimmy Carter's bungled handling of the infamous "Desert One" Iranian  hostage rescue attempt which took place shortly after, didn't surprise me at all.  I remember talking to colleagues about that fiasco of rescue attempt and how White House had micro managed, or I should say micro mismanaged the affair.  It didn't surprise me or my colleagues.  In fact, some of my colleagues who said that they had voted for Jimmy ended up voting for Reagan in the following election!

U.S. Presidents I Have Met.....by Chance!

     Well....actually, one of them was a vice president when I met him, George W. H. Bush, but he became the 41st president four years later.  So why quibble over such minor things!  At any rate, all of the meetings occurred more or less by chance, with the first one being the most "chancy" of all!
     In the second week of November of 1963, on Monday the 11th, I finally left the Special Forces Training Group where I had been in training for the past 8 months or so.  I arrived at my new permanent assignment, B Company of the 7th Special Forces Group.   I was a brand new Special Forces trooper, a  young PFC with a brand new green beret with a "recognition bar," not a full flash. 
     Back in those days, unlike today,  you did not receive a full beret flash until you were fully "three" qualified.  Number 3 was the suffix for the MOS that signified that you were Special Forces qualified.  It didn't matter that you had just gone through a grueling process of training anywhere between six months to a year and a half, depending on your MOS.  You were not considered fully ("three") qualified until you did additional training with your unit and cross-trained in at least one more MOS which could take about six months to a year.  Only then were you allowed to wear a full beret flash.  Prior to that, you wore a little strip of the flash that was officially called a "recognition bar," and more commonly referred to as a "candy stripe," but more popularly called an "idiot bar."
     So, there I was, a brand new Special Forces trooper with an "idiot bar" on my beret.  At any rate, I was just getting used to being with the 7th in my second week when I was ordered to report to the Company Sergeant Major.  The Sergeant Major in the old army was like a god!  Everyone feared the Sergeant Major, officers included!  I went into a mild panic, trying to think of what I had done wrong to cause the Sergeant Major to demand my presence.  But, orders are orders, so I reported to the Sergeant Major.
     Sergeant Major Greer, everyone called him "Pappy" Greer, was a World War Two and Korean War Veteran.  He was with the 503rd Airborne and then the Alamo Scouts during WWII and in Korea he started out with the Airborne Rangers and ended with Army Unit 8240, the United Nations Partisan Forces in Korea (UNPFK).  He was a grizzled, hardened combat veteran, an imposing figure.
As I stood in front of him, he was looking over my 201 file (Personnel file).  He glanced up at me and asked which languages I spoke.  I was a bit puzzled, since my languages were listed in the file.  But he asked, so I answered. 
     He looked at me hard, then said, "You speak Mongolian, don't you?" 
     I gulped and answered, "No, Sergeant Major, I don't speak Mongolian." 
     He continued to stare at me and said, "You speak, Mongolian."
     I said, "No Sergeant Major, I don't speak Mongolian."
     He gave me such a look that it almost made me shrivel up!  "You speak Mongolian! Do you understand?"  He said in a booming irritated voice.
     "Yes, Sergeant Major, I speak Mongolian,"  I told him as he wished.
     "Good," he said, calming down. "You're just what we need.  You're detailed to the Gabriel Demonstration Area.  Report to Sergeant Major Gaffney, he's in charge over there.  He'll tell you what your duties will be. That's all!"
     Well, the Gabriel Demonstration Area, or "Disneyland" as we used to call it, was a vast area that was built to use for demonstration purposes, mainly for VIPs.  The whole idea was to set up grounds where Special Forces could demonstrate its various skills to VIPs, Congressmen and such, so that it would help funding for Special Forces!  There was everything from rappelling to HALO and Skyhook demonstrations.  There was even a typical Vietnamese village constructed. 
     The whole demonstration began with the introduction of an "A" Detachment, the Special Forces' main operating unit.  A 12 man "A" Detachment marched out and faced the VIP crowd, then each member, beginning with the Team Leader, the Captain, would take turns and give a spiel, namely their duties and the foreign languages that they spoke.  Sometimes, some of the VIPs would ask questions directed at individual soldiers. In some cases, I was told that language skills were tested, so, it was important to be fluent in the languages that you claimed to speak. 
     Sergeant Majors Greer and Gaffney thought it would be good to have someone who spoke a language that would be highly unlikely that anyone in the audience would know.  So, they decided on Mongolian, and they needed an Asian to carry off this ploy,  The soldier, of course, had to speak another language or languages as well, languages that might be tested!  But they thought Mongolian would be a safe bet!  It was a kind of a joke that the Sergeant Majors wanted to pull!  So, there I was, assigned to the Gabriel Demonstration Area team.  The first thing I was told to do was to have a full flash sewn on my beret.  It wouldn't do to have someone with an "idiot bar" on the demonstration team!  So, at least there was that one fringe benefit, I could put on a full flash months before I actually earned it.
     We practiced our drill daily, marched out and gave spiels.  Everyone else on the demonstration team thought it was a riot that I was supposed to speak Mongolian.  The team leader, Captain Hoffman, started calling me Genghis, and that nick name kind of stuck for my remaining time in the Special Forces!  Then, around November 20 there was a bit a frantic activity in "Disneyland" as well as the rest of the Special Forces.  Rumors were that someone really important was coming to Fort Bragg, specifically to Smoke Bomb Hill where the Special Forces was located.
     On the 21st of November we got all spiffy in our starched fatigues and spit-shined boots, looking like a bunch of parade ground soldiers!  The VIP that arrived was the President and the First Lady!  They were on their way to Dallas and Air Force One made a previously unscheduled stop at Pope Air Force Base just the other side of Fort Bragg, because JFK wanted to visit his favorite Army unit, the Special Forces.  Both the President and the First Lady had visited the Special Forces before, so this was not their first time.  But it was their first time at the Gabriel Demonstration Area which was only built a few months earlier that year.
     So, we all waited anxiously, and when time came, marched out as we always did.  The team leader, Captain Hoffman gave his spiel and said he spoke French.  Jackie said a few words to him in French and JFK joked and said that his French was awful.  They came right down the line.  Another team member announced that he spoke Spanish, Jackie said a few words to him in Spanish.  The team was made up of predominantly French, Spanish, and Portuguese or Italian speakers.  I was the only one with none Romance language ability. When it came my turn, I was surprised that I was able to say anything at all!  But I managed to give my spiel, and ended by saying I spoke Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian! At the time I did not speak Spanish so I couldn't add that to my list, but I still had the longest list of anyone on the team.
     I probably just imagined it, but it seemed to me that JFK's eyes registered surprise at hearing that I spoke Mongolian. But he didn't say anything or ask me if I was a Mongol, he just shook my hand, as he did with every team member, and said that he was impressed!  Jackie didn't say anything, just smiled pleasantly.  Obviously, she didn't speak any of the languages that I claimed to know, especially Mongolian!  If truth be known, although my Russian was at native level, my Japanese was just fair, and Korean shaky at the time!  Of course, Mongolian was non-existent!
     So, that was my first meeting, as brief as it was, with a President of the United States, in this case JFK, who was assassinated the next day in Dallas.
    

Women Warriors Revisited - Part 3

     Since earlier I posted on my FB a bit about two female ROK Army soldiers earning the coveted U.S. Army Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB), I thought I might expand a little on the subject, give a background on the whole EIB business as to why it is such a big deal.  Also, give more information about the Republic of Korea's women in the military.
     First, the background on the ROK women in the military.  The Republic of Korea, Army, Navy and Air Force were founded in 1948, two years before the Korean War broke out.  In 1950, during the war, because of the acute shortage of men, women were accepted into the military, primarily to serve in administrative capacity and as nurses.  Just as in America during WWII, women in Korea were not drafted, they were recruited and joined voluntarily.  Although the ROK Army, Navy and Air Force did not use women in combat, the U.S. Army used Korean women in combat as guerrilla fighters in the UNPFK program.  When the cease fire took place in 1953, many of the surviving men and women of the UNPFK transitioned into ROK Army.  The UNPFK veterans became the foundation for the new ROK Army Airborne units, since they were all already parachute qualified!  The women were put in non-combat roles, but, it didn't take long for the ROK Army to realize that perhaps they could use women in combat roles as well, especially since the UNPFK veterans were all combat veterans!  By the 1990s women were fully integrated into ROK Army in various roles.
     In the Republic of Korea, all men are required to serve two years in the military.  Women are not required to do military service, so all women service personnel are volunteers.  Surprisingly, military service is very popular in South Korea and many women, after graduating college seek to enter service and be commissioned through Officers Candidate School program.  Others seek direct appointments to one of the three service academies.  All in all, military service seems to be viewed differently in South Korea than here in America.  In the 1990s, just about all military jobs became open to women and today, all jobs are open!  That is why the two women NCOs from the ROK Army could compete for the U.S. EIB.  They had already earned the ROK equivalent of the U.S. badge!   In contrast, the U.S. Army still does not allow women to serve in the Infantry with an Infantry MOS (military occupational specialty).
     The Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) was created in 1943, the same time as the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).  The difference, of course, is that the CIB is earned by participating in ground combat while EIB is earned through vigorous testing, a five day testing of various infantry skills.  In order to earn a CIB you must have served in combat with an Infantry or Special Forces unit.  Since the War on Terrorism (Afghanistan and Iraq) started in the early 21st Century, a new badge was created, the Combat Action Badge (CAB) which is issued to anyone who is not in the Infantry or Special Forces and has served in combat zone, not necessarily in direct combat, although initially it was meant only for those who served directly in combat.  The CAB is more or less like the Navy's (and Marines) and Air Force's Combat Action Ribbon (CAR).
     In order to qualify to take the test for the EIB, like the CIB, you must have either an Infantry or Special Forces MOS.  Women are not yet allowed to serve in either one of those categories in the U.S. Army, so, women could not take the test.  However, since the two Korean women were awarded the EIB in October of 2014, the Army had to do some soul searching and make some changes.  Now, female soldiers who are serving in an Infantry unit, can take the EIB test, even if they don't have an Infantry MOS.  Since the change was made, a U.S. Army female Sergeant Major became the first woman in the U.S. Army to earn the EIB.  So, you could say that the two Korean women soldiers paved the way for American women soldiers.  Ironically, it was for a U.S. Army award!

Women Warriors Revisited, Part 2

     In last year's blog on UNPFK, the United Nations Partisan Forces in Korea, I also talked about the KLO agent program, the so-called Korean Liaison Office program which involved recruiting, training, and deploying agents for intelligence collection in North Korea.  This program in general was not as successful as the "partisan" or guerrilla forces program.  For one thing, agents had to be clever enough to pass for locals.  Just because an agent was from North Korea did not necessarily mean that he or she could easily melt into the crowd.  Dialect differences were quite distinct from one region to another.  To a foreign ear the Korean spoken by a person from Wonsan may sound the same as the one from Pyongyang, but to a Korean, the difference was not just obvious, but striking.
     During the war, employment opportunities were next to zero, except as a participant as one of the combatants!  For women, it was even more difficult to survive.  Many sought employment working for the war effort in one form or another.  KLO agents received a hefty bonus when they signed on and their salary was quite good.  If they were fortunate enough to survive a mission, they received additional bonuses.  In other words,  being a KLO agent was financially beneficial.  But, you had to be from North Korea!  The Americans who ran the program were from all branches of the service but predominantly from the fledging CIA (CIA had been formed in 1947).  Except for those personnel who were charged with parachute or other technical training, all other Americans, military and civilian, were essentially all Case Officers, involved in recruiting, training, and deploying agents into North Korea.
     Initially, many mistakes were made.  Many who were not from the north claimed that they were North Koreans so that they could get the job.  The Case Officers hired these people who were lost on their first mission!  The North Koreans captured them almost as soon as they arrived!  So, it became a much more difficult process of finding and hiring for KLO work.  It was especially difficult to find women for the program.
     The program paid a hefty bonus to Case Officers for recruiting agents, around $5,000 per agent.  That was an awful lot of money back in the early 1950s....it isn't exactly chump change today either!  So, as you can guess, whenever money is involved, there are going be attempts by some to take advantage of the situation.  Unscrupulous Case Officers would make arrangements with desperate people who wanted to earn the good money that was paid by the program.  The prospective agents received a $5,000 bonus for signing up, and the unscrupulous Case Officers would hire new agents with an arrangement for a kick-back on the bonus.  Most of them split 50/50, so a Case Officer could conceivably make as much as $7500 on each new hire!
     There were also numerous cases of trying to pass off new agents as North Koreans by some Case Officers.  Some South Koreans were coached to speak with a northern accent, etc.  But generally, these bogus cases were uncovered before these poor men and women were sent off to their deaths, and the Case Officer responsible was transferred out of the program.
     There was one rather disturbing incident that involved a mistress of one of the Case Officers.  This man had made a small fortune collecting bonuses and he was known to be a top recruiter.  He was very charismatic and a ladies man.  His Korean mistress happened to be North Korean from Pyongyang, originally.  She was a beautiful girl, one that easily would have made an impression on any Hollywood casting director, and she was very much in love with him.  At the time the supply of North Korean women for KLO agents had dried up and Case Officers in the program were busily scouring the country looking for prospective agents. 
     Apparently this particular Case Officer was not about to go without a bonus, he convinced his mistress to join the program.  She was so much in love with him that she would have done anything for him, so she joined the program.  Most of this man's colleagues were shocked!  But he insisted that she volunteered on her own, but everyone knew that he had convinced her to join.  He collected not only his bonus, but kept her bonus for "safe keeping!"
     She went through all of the prescribed training, culminating in parachute training.  A mission was selected for her just on the outskirts of Pyongyang and she was sent off.  She never returned.  Word had reached the KLO headquarters via an agent that returned that she was captured almost immediately, tortured, then killed.  Her lover/Case Officer had collected both bonuses and didn't seem to be bothered by what happened to her.  Ironically, this man went on to live a long and fairly prosperous life.  He married three times, each time to a successively more wealthy woman!  He died in Hawaii from alcoholism when he was in his late 60s.  His last wife and family in Honolulu discovered after his death that he had another family on the big island of Hawaii!
     He was a not a nice man, but of all the despicable things that he did in his life, collecting a bonus for sending off his mistress to her death was the worst.